WHAT IS ISKCON? The International Society for Kr a Conscio snes.s wa formed in July, 1966 by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktived nta Sw,ami Prabhupiida and a number of his A!llerican students. ISKCON is composed of devotees. Devotees are held together by mutwil agreement to accept the principles of Bhakti-yoga or devotional service as the goal of life. By mutual endeavor, the entire Society concentrates on Sri Kr a, the Personality of Godhead, while engaged in various tasks, cooking, eating, working in an.office or. chanting the Holy Names in the city streets. A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami is a pure devotee, and those disciples who sincerely follow his instructions have every chance of becoming pure d,evotees themselves. The initiated devotees in each center live in urban commune settings (with the one exce p tion ol New
Vrindaban, ISKCON's ashram of homes; temples, farm land and cows in the hills of West Virginia), and are freeing themselves from the conditions of birth, death, disease and old age by fixing their minds on the eternal joyful Personality of Godhead. To live in ISKCON as an initiated student, one agrees to accept four rules: no meat-eating, no illicit sex, no intoxicants and no gambling. The disciples perform devotional service, duties and chanting. in a life-routine characterized by simple living and high thinking. Kr!la Consciousness is experienced as a process of selfpurification. Its means and ends are an open secret, and there is no financial charge for learning Kr!la Consciousness or receiving initiation into the chanting of Hare Kr 9a. The gist of devotional service to Kr!la is that one takes whatever capacity or talent he or she' has and dovetails it with the transcendental interest of the Supreme Enjoyer, the Absolute Truth. The writer or poet writes articles and poems for Kr!J.a, and the Society publishes periodicals. The businessman does business in order to sell literature and establish many temples around the world. The householders raise children in the science of God, and husband and wife live in mutual cooperation for spiritual progress. And everyone in ISKCON goes on Sankirtan! Sankirtan means chanting the Hare Kr r-a mantra in the city. streets for the benefit of all citizens. A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami has said that the Sankirtan party is the heart and soul of the Hare Kr!la movement. Therefore, in each of the 25 ISKCON centers, Sankiftan is carried on several times daily, and all other activity is subsidiary. Our spiritual master stresses this, for we are in the line of Lord Caitanya.. Caitanya Mahaprabhu is revealed by Vedic scriptures to be Kr!la Himself, come in the mood of a pure, devotee. Five thousand years ago Lord Caitanya understood from scripture that in this present age of Kali (quarrel and disturbance), when mental distraction is high and almost no one is serious about spiritual perfection, chanting alone is the most effective.means of God realization. Following the Sankirtan
process chalked out by Lord Caitanya, the Hare Kn;!la movement of today takes parties of from five to 30 devotees, men wearing saffron robes and women wearing colorful saris. And they cele brate the Holy Name with dancing and melodious chanting. The Sankirtan singing is accompanied with mrdanga drum and pairs of kartals (hand cymbals). The devotees experience that this joyous singing of the Names of God produces immediate feelings :of ecstasy coming from the spiritual stratum. The effect is a clearing away of the dirt from the mind engrossed in the gloom of material existence. Under the instruction of the spiritual master, they gladly spread this chanting, and in reciprocation Sri Kn;!la allows all to taste the nectar for which everyone is always anxious. Because the Personality of Godhead is Absolute, His Name is nondifferent from Himself. Therefore the Supreme Person, Kr!J.a, the Reservoir of Pleasure, dances on the tongue of the chanter of His Name; to chant and hear fixes the mind, in meditation, in direct contact with God. The mantra is not to be mistak<::n for an ordinary song. or anything tinged with the mundane; it is a pure transcendental sound vibration of the Absolute and has been upheld as such since time immemorial by the great sages and Vedic scriptures. Lord Caitanya prays to the Supreme: "My dear Lord, You are so kind that You have invested all potency in Your Holy Name." This Absolute Presence of God in His Name holds true not only for the members of the Sankirtan party, but for any living entity who hears the chanting; anyone will benefit if he 'simply likes the sound of the chanting, or if he appreciates the presence of the Sankirtan party in any way. That is the Mercy of the Absolute. The Holy Name is co m pared to a fire; whether one is scientifically conversant with all the properties of fire or knows nothing about it, if one puts his hand in fire he will be burnt. Sincere chanting and hearing of the Mahiimantra will cleanse the mind and elevate one and all to the natural original position of spirit soul. Therefore there is no hesitancy on the devotees' part in I?;Oing to the largest and most public gatherings of people and
. broadcasting, wherever possible, the sound of the transcendental. _Names: Hare Kr!J.a, Hare Kr!J.a, Kr!la Kr!J.a, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Chanting takes place regularly in the main streets of ities like New York, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, Berkeley, Detroit, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Honolulu, London, Hamburg, Tokyo, etc., with new ISKCON centers being regularly established. The expansion of Krwa Consciousness is realizationof the prediction. made by Lord Caitanya: "The chanting of Hare Kr!J.a will be heard in every town and village of the world." The Society is as famous for its Sunday feasts and festivals as for its chanting in the streets. Every Sunday, in each of the ISKCON centers, a grand feast of from 10 to 15 courses of Indian vegetarian food is prepared and distributed for guests. The feasts are arranged around festival days celebrating the Pastimes of Sri Kr!la during His Appearance on the earth 5,000 years ago. Plays, puppet shows and chanting are regular J items which invite guests to participate in the transcendental glorification of the Personality of Godhead. Kr va Consciousness is not a dry philosophy. Residents of San Francisco appreciate the yearly Ratha-yatra Festival in which the large cart bearing - the Jagannath Deity is wheeled to the sea. During the Rathayatra celebration of 1969, more than 15,000 people followed the regal 8,000 pound cart, and thousands were fed full plates of prasiidam at the seaside. The important aim of the festivals, chanting and philosophizing is to engage people in the service of the Personality of Godhead and in feeling [-lis soothing contact. All miseries are caused by forgetfulness of God, and ISKCON, by reviving the lost memory of the Supreme Lord in the minds of the people, is-according to Bhagavad-gitii-performing the greatest service and highest welfare work for suffering humanity. Moreover, it is performed in this sublime and easy way, by feasting, dancing, singing and philosophizing.
Sometimes in Lord aitanya 's time, the devotees were accused by the impersonalists of being mere sentimentalists because they were always singing and dancing. The actual fact is that Kr l).a Consciousness is backed by a vast learned literature, the Vedic scriptures such as Bhagavad-gitii, Srimad-Bhiigavatam, Vediinta-siltra, the Upani ads, Mahiibhiirata, Riimiiym;w, etc., so tha_t one could read 24 hours a day without exhausting the Source. All of this Kr l).a Consciousness information is under stood by revelation. Simply by applying one's energy in a devotional service attitude, the knowledge becomes known to the devotee through the heart. Classes in the uanscendental science of God consciousness or bhakti-yoga are held every morning and three nights a week at all ISKCON centers, and the public is freely invited to attend. The Brahma Sampradiiya disciplic succession, in which A.C. Bhaktivedanta is coming, is particularly noted for bt;ing a learned line. There is plenty of philosophy and logic in stock. There are many different religious philosophies and transcendental teachings, but the Kr!la conscious students and ministers are unique in that they are convinced of the Personality of Godhead. Not just that they have heard "God is great," but they have heard from the spiritual master and continuously hearing from the scriptures just how great He is, how His energies are working and exactly how He is enjoying. There is no literature of theism as volu minous, exacting, consistent and clear as this Vedic literature of Kr l).a Consciousness. The conviction in service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is due to direct reciprocation with Him. Simply by chanting or hearing the Pastimes of the Personality of Godhead, one is contacting the Absolute-and he can feel it. By engaging the senses, the will, words and energy, the devotees are receiving constant information from the Spiritual World. K rw a Himself describes such devotees as the topmost yogis and mystics, so it is no wonder that they are conversant with the nature of God and the way back to, Godhead. ISKCON provides formal education in the highest science, or j' 1 l
'. ljft Bhagavad-gitii calls the "King of Knowledge." Accordini'ta. Ve1lit! sourc.es, ed cation can 6nly be valid when there is spiritua,, knowledge or self-realization, and a man is said to have no qualifi2'',. cations if he does not know who he is in terms of self-realization or God realization. Learning the texts requires liyjng in accor <;iap.ce with the scriptural injunctions without the slightest deyjation. The need for Kr a conscious preachers is very great, and it is a full time vocation. The curriculum advances basically from student to minister; after studying and working in a temple for one year, the student may be awarded the title of' bhakti-. siistri, or ordained minister, with further responsibilities an? with advancement of seryjce. He may finally take the ren,ounced order, called sannyiisa, and receive the title sviimi. As the philosophy of Kr a Consciousness is non-sectarian,. any man-hindu or Christian-will advance tn his faith by chanting the Holy Name of God and hearing the Bhagavad-gitii. Without knowledge, realization and loving service to the One S preme God, there can be no religion. Let the.inhabitants o( this planet rejoice in the Sankirtan movement and live to se the fulfillment of the chanting of Hare Kr a -carried to every. town and viliage. Only in this way can real. peace prevail in the world and mankind qualify to enter into the Kingdom of God. ISKCON CENTERS ) ISKCON has centers in the following cities: Berkeley Buffalo Hamburg London New Vrndavana Philadelphia Seattle Tokyo Washington Boston Colu bw; Honolulu Los Angel s New York City San Francisco St. Louis Toronto Providence. Boulder. 'Det.i6it Laguna Beach Montreal Paris Santa Barbara Sydney Vancouver Printed by ISKCON.PRESS Division of International Society for Krishna Consciousness 40 North Beacon St. Boston, Mass. 02134